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Battle of Cuba
Background In 1959 by Fidel Castro had overthrown the dictatorial government of Cuba and installed himself as Prime Minister. A zealous Communist, Castro was quick to court the Soviet Union, who was pleased to have an ally near the industrial heart of the Allied Nations. The Allies, too embroiled in WWII to notice, didn't even counterattack when Soviet and Cuban forces destroyed the Allied base at Guantánamo Bay. After the attack, Cuba became a quiet, island fortress (so thought because the end of rent money from the United States reduced Cuba's budget). Or so the Allies thought. A flyover by a Claymoore UAV revealed a sudden spike in Soviet activity; a high altitude photograph of three Soviet ships entering Havana harbour. Unwilling to divert badly needed troops to invade Cuba for what might be normal manoeuvres, Allied High Command turned to its intelligence wing. Two spies specialising in Latin American communists swam from Miami and landed on empty beaches, unnoticed by the Soviets and Cubans. Over several days, they integrated themselves in Cuban culture, sipping mojitos while cajoling information out of high ranking officials. During the night, when they were not occupied by beautiful Cuban women, they snuck into Cuban and Soviet bases to copy important documents. The spies also noted that the Soviets were salvaging old Cuban vehicles for unknown reasons. The picture was coming together that the bulk of the effort was taking place in Estadio Latinoamericano, the largest baseball field in the city. Chronoshifting in a specially modified Mirage Tank to better disguise their movements, the intelligence team proceeded to the baseball field. Fortunately, the Communist forces were too busy to notice an unusually light Apocalypse tank creak through the streets of Havana; if the Communist officers had been more alert, they would have known that no Apocalypse tanks were operating in the Western hemisphere. Along the way, the agents bribed any disloyal looking Cuban soldiers into following them, and soon had a sizable following. Estadio Latinoamericano was locked down so tight even the skilled spies could not hope to operate; among other things, bears were chained outside each entrance. A few more bribes, and disloyal conscripts rushed the field, posing as hooligans. Suddenly, hidden Tesla coils shot out and destroyed the Mirage, and the conscripts scattered before they were reduced to ashes. Their cover broken, the spies melded into the crowd, but not before noticing the baseball field opening to reveal a Kirov base. They quickly called for reinforcements to take out this obviously active Soviet base. However, these reinforcements would take hours to get there, and there wouldn't be enough time to stop it. Force Composition Soviet Forces Unknown to the Allies, the Soviets had loaded 4 Kirovs with specially made Vacuum Imploder warheads, each of immense destructive yield. A Spetsnaz unit had transported them, hidden in shipments of grain, as well as the technicians and mission specialists needed, under the command of Colonel Chionna Manya. Along with these elite soldiers, the entire Caribbean front was in Cuba, though this front was much smaller, given how it was to defend backwaters against dolphin pods more than anything else. The Cuban army, commanded by Fidel Castro's brother Raúl, was mostly made up of poorly armed and trained conscripts. Armour support was poor; all Cuba had was a few old Anvils the Soviets wanted to get rid of. The Cuban air force was laughable, made up of prop planes that couldn't down a Hawker. What Cuba did have was a devotion to defending their country; after all, they were defending their homes against the capitalist onslaught. Many Cubans were so determined to push the Allies back into the sea they handled lit dynamite to throw at Allied forces. Allied Forces The 5th Allied Task Force led by Admiral Georg Santiago was nearby and was diverted from anti-submarine duties to Cuba. Centred on the aircraft carrier ANV George Washington, the 5th Task Force quickly blockaded Cuba and established naval superiority (an easy task since Cuba had only a few patrol ships). The dire task of going onto land fell onto the 2nd Marine Corps. They were used to tough landings, but never in urban areas. To fight in the chaos of urban combat, to say nothing of urban landings, they were issued an MCV. They also had on hand an air cavalry battalion for quick deployment, and for air cover they had the 394th Fighter Squadron, ready to be deployed once the marines landed and established a forward airbase for them. Command of the Allied forces was divided between Admiral Santiago, Air Marshal Price, and Colonel Manning. Santiago commanded all naval forces and support units on the ground from the George Washington. Giles Price commanded over all aerial forces from the George Washington as well. Colonel Manning commanded all of the ground forces from the MCV, to be close enough to quickly give orders. Emperor of the Clouds Even before the Allied forces could make it to Cuba, three of the Kirovs had already launched (the fourth having been delayed due to a technical issue), and had managed to cover most of the distance between Havana and Miami; the 394th wouldn't be ready to launch in time, and the Florida Air National Guard's Hawkers would have little effect on the Kirovs. Commander Giles knew all this better than any other Allied officer, and quickly appealed to Allied Command to call Infinity Realms Aeronautics in Ottawa. UFOs had been sighted over Ottawa for a long while; this particular one was described as a long silver cylinder, moving too quick to even be caught on film. What civilians didn't know was this was a prototype of the Allies' newest interceptor. Though still undergoing tests (cameras able to capture it on tape were being developed), it was ordered to launch into battle. Only one pilot, Captain Bayard Fournier, was qualified to pilot this prototype, who had the G-force resistance, reaction time, and arrogance in abundance. When Infinity Realms CEO Vrai Veritas told him he had only 15 minutes to get to Florida, he famously quipped, "Why so slow?" Windows shattered across the entirety of Ottawa as Fournier in the new Achilles Superiority Fighter blasted off into the stratosphere. Doing a double digit G loop before clipping a Soviet satellite he happened upon, the Achilles arrived in Florida before the Kirovs had even reached the coast. Fournier was quickly put under Price's command, but he got a free hand above Cuba, and only responded when Price directly ordered him to complete any objective. Flipping his fighter's "Myrmidon" spectrum cannons to armed, he punched burning holes into the first Kirov, blasting the carriage off the gas cells. Quickly finding the second, he dared himself to neatly cut it in half, and fly through the two halves. Three men on a fishing trip confirmed that two halves of a Kirov fell into the sea near them. The third Kirov, however, had entered Miami airspace. Multigunner Turrets shot missile into missile into the Kirov, but to little effect, as the missiles simply passed through the Kirov's gas envelope without detonating. Even if the Kirov was shot down, the warhead was still armed. Though Fournier pretended to blow off such warnings, in his cockpit he was worried; after all, the implosion might destroy his plane! Fournier glided his nose up, until his rocket was in low orbit. Cutting his fusion rocket, he began a free-fall to the Kirov. As he passed by the airship at five thousand feet, nozzle pointed towards the Kirov, the fusion rocket roared to life, the power of a tiny sun tearing the massive airship in half and detonating the massive bomb and hydrogen gas inside. Despite his proximity to the detonation, the Achilles proved its worth (and broke a speed record that Fournier himself had set) when it outran the fireball, cutting a flaming trail through the sky. As he zoomed off to buzz nearby Homestead Joint Air Reserve Base, where Hawker pilots were scrambling, a sonic boom knocked most of the pilots onto the ground. Fournier blared into the radio, "I rule the skies!" before rocketing back to Ottawa. Fall of the Valkyries A fourth Kirov was still ready to launch, so the Allies had no time to waste. The Estadio Pedro Marrero was quickly deduced to be the fourth hangar. Admiral Santiago quickly steamed his ships into range. The George Washington launched most of its Sky Knight drones on search and destroy missions, destroying armour and defences wherever they could be found, and launched Blackout missiles to knock out power for military buildings. Other ships used powerful speakers to order Cuban civilians to evacuate from the battlefield. Meanwhile, 2nd Corps embarked on their Riptides, played its trump card to destroy Estadio Pedro Marrero. From the decks of specialist landing ships well away from the coast, the 58th Air Cavalry launched. Made of 32 helicopters, it was dangerously vulnerable to anti air. However, the Cuban Air Force was at a pre-WWII level of technology, and the objective was urgent, so the 58th strapped in and expected a flak storm. A flak storm was exactly what they got. The 12th Convict Division had been spread liberally around the city, with a flak trooper and his minder on every other roof. The cloud of helicopters was an easy target, and each convict shot into with abandon. Only one Cardinal was shot down, being a sturdy, modern, helicopter. However, thirteen of the Longbows were downed before they had even reached the objective, more than half their numbers. Their crews were quickly killed by roving Cuban conscripts on the ground before they could be rescued. The Peacekeepers who did land were at a disadvantage, as most of their aerial support was gone, as was their commanding officer, though they quickly swept through the surrounding area to eliminate the flak troopers. Attack dogs killed war bears, Javelins took out the defending Tesla coils, and Peacekeepers killed any infantry. Slowly but surely, the base was cleared and occupied. The unloaded Kirov did an emergency liftoff, breaking through the stadium's hatch. Unfortunately, this irreparably damaged the Kirov, and it crashed into Havana, destroying entire apartment blocks and creating a massive firestorm. Fortunately, both sides allowed the Havana Fire Department to pass through their lines at will, and they were able to contain the fire before it destroyed all of Havana. Ciudad de las Columnas 2nd Corps had landed near the San Salvador de la Punta Fortress at the opening of Cuba harbor and quickly set up, with Manning commanding from the field at the command post. As all civilians had fled, the Peacekeepers started a careful building-to-building sweep of the city, blasting away anyone who raised a gun at them, with Athena Cannons on standby for any military building. The 2nd's MCV in the meantime was producing the ground clearers and radio beacons needed to make a landing area for the 394th Fighter Squadron. This was critical, for MiGs from the rebuilt base at Guantánamo Bay were arriving and were shooting down Sky Knights. The Apollos quickly transferred from the landing vessel to San Salvador de la Punta, and then launched off into the dogfight. The 28th Armoured Brigade had already passed on through the fire from the buildings. The already devastated Soviet and Cuban armour disintegrated beneath their assault, and rifle fire from windows proved ineffective. Manning ordered them out of the city, as they could do little in urban combat, to do a firesweep through the countryside, with an eye towards making the liberation of Cuba complete. A few Mirages, along with some riflemen, however, were hidden outside the El Capitolio building and other government buildings to prevent the escape of those inside. The infantry were in sight of the capitol building when the Cubans initiated a desperate plan. Cuban soldiers dressed as civilians (dubbed "Terrorists") had been attempting to blow up any Allied man or machine they could, but Peacekeepers were trained in dealing with such tactics. Most terrorists died before they reached Allied lines. More effective were trucks filled with explosives driven into Allied controlled buildings. A group of them were even driven into Manning's base. Most were stopped before they reached the perimeter, but one exploded inside. Little damage was done, but it disrupted command and control, especially since the Apollos were landing to rearm and refuel, allowing the second phase of the audacious plan to go forward. A squadron of old YaK dive bombers creaked off their airfield to attack the George Washington. They presented a sorry sight as the Hydrofoils ripped them apart. Air Marshal Price was reported to laugh at this incredulous attack. However, one determined YaK did get within range and dropped a bomb, which the Allies did not expect. Suddenly, it looked like the George Washington's deck might be ruined, preventing it from making further launches. At this moment, a sonic boom broke open a cloud, as a spectrum beam shot the bomb out of the air. Captain Fournier had disobeyed orders and returned to Cuban airspace, later reporting he was "bored". The planes sent to intercept him were now hours away. He weaved his way above Havana, effortlessly shooting down each shocked MiG as he saw them. In no time the airspace was clear. The only Apollo that was in the air reportedly told Fournier where he could put his spectrum cannons immediately upon his arrival, but the transcript for that pilot's radio was empty for the rest of the engagement. On the ground Peacekeepers had cleared most of the city except for a few shrinking pockets of Cubans. Meanwhile the 28th Armoured Brigade had scoured most of central Cuba of Soviet forces and were clearing the whole island. Its task complete, the George Washington recalled its drones and steamed to destroy the Soviet base at Guantánamo Bay. However, a transmission from Agent Freeman threatened to make the battle moot. According to the spy, the Soviets had several more vacuum imploder warheads underground and were attempting to smuggle them outside the city. Manning had to order troops away from the fighting to find these warheads. Freeman didn't know how they were going to be moved out, but the Soviets quickly revealed it. Day of the Dolphin Out of boathouses several Stingrays, specially modified for speed using parts cannibalised from other vehicles, sped past the blockade, most of them managing to avoid being sunk by Assault Destroyer fire. As his Hydrofoils were needed as an anti-aircraft picket, Admiral Santiago sent a special sonic order to Sergeant Blowy. Blowy and his pod sped off as fast as their flippers would propel them, and one by one a dolphin used his sonic weapons to burst open the Stingrays, but the sudden appearance of the shadow of an Akula sub made the situation treacherous. The Akula surfaced and docked with the remaining Stingray, the sailors arming themselves and shooting at the dolphins as they came near. Crewmen were also transferring the vacuum imploder from the Stingray, intending to descend to depths where dolphins couldn't go. Knowing the danger the vacuum imploder potentially posed, Blowy ordered the rest of his pod to keep back. Blowy circled around and swam full speed ahead. Jumping clear of the water, he landed on the Stingray and screeched loud enough to stun the sailors. Flopping on the deck of the Stingray, Blowy was eventually close enough to the warheads to push them into the water, before he was shot several times. Sergeant Blowy was posthumously recognised for his efforts, and was later buried at sea. The pod grabbed various parts of the warheads and dragged it back to 5th Task Force. By this time, Havana was completely under Allied control. Fidel Castro was found hiding in a sedan's trunk, attempting to flee the city. Unfortunately, he misjudged his driver's loyalty, who drove straight to the Allied Command Post. At 6:30 in the evening, the Allies officially announced that Havana was no longer a battlefield. Aftermath Thanks to the quick actions of the Allies, no Vacuum Imploder warhead reached their target or made it back to the Soviet Union. Later investigation revealed that the targets were Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. The plan was to so utterly devastate Florida that the Allies in general and America in particular would lose the will to fight, as well as possibly diverting American armies needed to liberate Los Angeles to Florida instead, to help with disaster relief. Timely magazine was the first to run a cover story on it, dubbed The Great Bear Trap. Fidel and Raul Castro, along with other Cuban government officials, were arrested for crimes against humanity, and put in the Allied Cryo Prison in the Tower of London for terms to be determined later. In their place, the Allies installed various loyal Cuban refugees from Miami, who quickly turned Cuba into the democracy the Allies wanted. A battalion of Peacekeepers quickly discouraged any Cubans who thought otherwise. Colonel Manning caught a tropical disease while fighting in Cuba. While ill, Manning had delusions of being an intelligence officer, and that every cough and headache was a report from the field, just waiting to be made sense of. Needless to say, Manning was unfit for duty for a while. Captain Fournier was court martialled for his breach of duty, but the testimony of Commander Giles, many Peacekeepers from the ground, and the first mate of the George Washington was enough to waive punishment. For his part in the battle, he received the Allied Medal of Honour, several awards from Guinness World Records, and a promise from Apollo pilots to a free drink ... in the face. Cuba quickly began exporting goods to the west, mostly for the benefit of the government the Allies installed. Cigar aficionados worldwide found out the Cuban cigar weren't nearly as amazing as they had been led to believe, causing global outrage. Category:Battles